Introduction
Gridded maps of sea surface height (SSH) have widespread use among the scientific and operational oceanography and climate science communities, including monitoring the global mean sea level. Since 2014, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has been producing the Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) SSH grids every five days from nadir-looking, along-track satellite radar altimetry available since 1992.
MEaSUREs SSH Grids Updated With Latest Corrections and Altimeter Products
A new version of this gridded product is now available (v2205) and includes improvements such as new versions of input data, updated corrections applied to the along-track altimeter observations as well as improvements in the gridding technique used.
The purpose of the MEaSUREs gridded SSH product is to provide a set of SSH grids supported by NASA and using the latest corrections and most up to date altimeter products, with climate-quality accuracy from the mesoscale to the global scale. As observations are ongoing, grids will be updated regularly so that the product maintains relevance and utility.
Major Findings
The results of the updates are demonstrated in the above animation showing global sea surface height observations every five days from October 1992 to January 2022. Blue patterns show regions of low sea level while red patterns show regions of high sea level. These sea surface height grids have a variety of applications including global mean sea level and El Niño Southern Oscillation monitoring, tracking of eddies and Antarctic Circumpolar Current fronts, and estimating the transport of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation to name just a few.
Related Links
References
- Fournier S., Willis J., Killett E., Qu Z. and Zlotnicki V. 2022 JPL MEaSUREs Gridded Sea Surface Height Anomalies Version 2205. PO.DAAC, CA, USA. Dataset accessed [YYYY-MM- DD] at doi:10.5067/SLREF-CDRV3